Fatherhood
by JahMasterWikiwuki
Summary: Nico was always partyer who thrived on casual relationships, never committed ones. But when he meets a young canary named Joan, he instantly falls for her. Now, two months into a relatively committed and stable relationship, Nico could foresee no end to the smooth sailing. Until, however, Joan says two words that will change Nico's party-going life forever: "I'm pregnant."


**After over a year, I have actually written something again! Whether this is going to be just a stand-alone short story or a chapter in a larger story I am not yet sure of. But I wanted to just get something out there, to get back into writing. Since school just started, chances are I won't be writing much. But for those who care, here is a small story/chapter.**

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**Fatherhood**

The sun was setting on Rio. The birds that lived in that magical city were returning to their hollows, many ushering in their chicks to prepare for sleep. As the hot day ended and the warm night began to take hold, the city itself seemed to start to fall asleep. So, at such a late hour, while attempting to settle in his own eighteen chicks with his mate, Rafael the toucan was puzzled when a small red crested cardinal suddenly appeared in the opening of his hollow.

"Pedro?" The toucan inquired. "Why in the world are you here at this hour, amigo?"

"I was wondering if I could crash here for the night. That cool with you?" The cardinal seemed to have an air of annoyance around him, which Rafael immediately noticed.

"Um . . . sure, amigo, I'm sure Eva won't mind. But what's wrong? You seem . . . off. Why do you want to sleep here?"

Pedro let out an annoyed sigh and rubbed his temples with his wings to apparently try and soothe a headache. "Nico and his _girlfriend_ are fighting again. It's insane! They've been together for two months and I swear they're always fighting!"

Rafael rolled his eyes. This was probably the fourth time at least in the last week that Pedro came to Rafael's because of Nico and his girlfriend's incessant fighting. It wasn't always to sleep there for the night, but it was always to get away from the yelling.

"Actually," Rafael responded, "it's only been for the last week that they have been fighting. Before that, they fit together like puzzle pieces."

"I know, right?!" Pedro began waving his black wings around in frustration. "One minute, they're sickeningly lovey-dovey. The next, they're at each other's throats!"

"I'm sure there's a reason. They didn't just start fighting for absolutely no reason." Rafael placed his wing under his beak and seemed to be thinking. "I wonder what it could be . . ."

"Whatever, it's their business. And it's not even the fighting I hate the most, man. It's just that the fights get so loud. They give me migraines." Again, the cardinal massaged his temples with his wings. "And when I say 'loud,' I mean _loud_, loud. Like full on raging!"

"Raging?"

"Yeah, screaming, wings waving, things being tossed, that kind of stuff."

Rafael let out a breath of air. "Meu Deus, really? I can't believe it. They seemed so perfect for each other. Usually Nico just dates birds because of his social personality. But he seemed to have such a connection with Joan."

Pedro let out a sad sigh in agreement with Rafael's statement. "Yeah, bird. It sucks. They _were_ pretty good for each other . . . but now . . ."

Rafael nodded sadly. "I wish there was something we could do. But we would probably just make things worse. As you said before, it _is_ their business . . ."

An empty silence filled the air; all that could be said about their friend's relationship had been said. Finally, Rafael broke the awkward silence:

"I guess I'll show you where you'll sleep."

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"_**My**__ fault?! What do you mean __**my**__ fault?!"_

"_**You**__ were the one who was looking at that girl!"_

"_I wasn't looking at that girl __**that**__ way! We're just __**friends**__!"_

"_But it isn't even that! The worst part was how you were supposed to make reservations at that restaurant! You're so __**irresponsible**__!"_

"_Well __**excuse me**__ if I forgot! I don't know why you're acting so bit—"_

"_You better not __**dare**__ say that!"_

"_Well, it's true!"_

Back at Nico and Pedro's hollow (which Pedro had previously vacated), Nico was now involved in a shouting match with his (possibly not-for-long) girlfriend Joan. The fight had been going on for hours, and while there seemed, to Nico, to be no set topic of the argument, the main theme seemed to be how "irresponsible" and "childish" and "unfaithful" Nico could be. While most of the arguments for "unfaithful" held no water, the irresponsible and childish arguments could sometimes be accurate, albeit ranging from somewhat to completely exaggerated.

Nonetheless, Nico was growing completely tired of the yelling. _"What's going on with you lately?!"_ Nico finally shouted. _"You suddenly just got on my back and won't let go! You nitpick every little thing I do! You are so suspicious of me! What's wrong with you?!"_

Joan threw up her wings. _"I've just noticed how bad of a boyfriend you are!"_

With that, she turned around, stomped to the entrance of the hollow, and launched herself into the air, flying away from the hollow, and Nico along with it.

Nico was fuming. How dare she call him unfaithful! Childish! Irresponsible! After all, it was her who suddenly snapped and started picking fights with him at every turn. Things she used to find funny and attractive suddenly became annoying and intolerable. Why? He wasn't sure even God knew.

At first he had shrugged, and like many guys had just muttered, "Women." But as the fights became more frequent, he became more distressed. He feared for their relationship, stressed over their fights, grew angry with Joan for sparking the fights.

What had changed? He remembered the first night they met at the club, having accidently tripped into her, both apologizing repeatedly as if it was anyone's fault, and then laughing it off. He remembered them sitting down and chatting the night away. He remembered that spark in her eyes, that funny, kind, yet independent and wild spark . . . that spark that seemed to have faded.

He remembered those butterflies in his stomach the instant he talked to her, despite waiting two months to ask her out. And even when he asked her out for the first time, he claimed it was as friends. But deep down, he was hoping for a relationship; the moment Nico noticed that spark in her he realized that he had fallen for this young canary.

But now . . .

_What?_

Nico paced around his hollow thinking. He was still fuming, but now, as he remembered when he first met Joan, why he was attracted to her in the first place, he began to feel sentimental. The last dozen fights ended in one of them storming away, and never referencing to the said fight again.

These unresolved issues had only piled onto the already existent weight of Joan's strange behavior. Their once fruitful relationship was now plagued with arguments and conflict.

Nico sighed. All he wanted to do was to tell Joan he loved her and want things to be the way they used to be—

Suddenly, Nico's eyes went wide. He realized that he had never told Joan that he loved her.

"Could that be it?" Nico thought. He knew that saying "I love you" was a huge milestone in any relationship, and so he had held off for a while. Could this be the reason why she was suddenly becoming so hostile?

Whatever the reason, he just wanted the old Joan back. He wanted to see her smile, see her laugh, see that old flame—three things that he hadn't seen in her in a week—a week that seemed like an eternity.

Sighing for what must have been the hundredth time that day, he walked towards the entrance of his hollow and flew into the sky.

He looked high and low for Joan in vain: at her hollow, at the club, at Blu's hollow, and even at Rafael's hollow, where he found Pedro, who refused to become involved in their situation in fear of making things worse.

By now it was nighttime, and after nearly an hour of searching various locations around Rio, another area popped into his head: the spot of their first date at that lone waterfall in the middle of the forest.

So, flying as fast as his wings could take him, he entered the rainforest and found the clearing at its center which held the small cliff, and the river that spilt over it, forming the waterfall that collected at the bottom in the lake and ran off in another stream.

Quickly looking around, he failed to find Joan anywhere. As he turned away, he heard a sound that sounded like a sharp breath. Turning back around, he flew towards the waterfall where the sound morphed into that of quiet sobbing. Following the sound, he located a small, yellow, shaking shape perched on a ledge next to the waterfall: a sobbing Joan, with tears streaming down her face.

Touching down next to Joan, he softly placed his wing on her shoulder. "Joan . . ."

She jerked her shoulder away. "Just leave, Nico!" She snapped in between her sobs.

For a moment, nothing could be heard but Joan's quiet sobbing. Then, Nico tried again. "Joan . . . please . . . tell me what's wrong."

Sobbing, she managed to reply: "Nothing except for you! Leave!"

Then, Nico blurted out something he thought he would never say to a girl: "I love you!"

Joan's eyes widened, and her sobbing quieted as she registered what she had just been told. "Did you . . . you just . . ." She used the back of her wing to wipe away her tears.

"I did. I love you."

Joan knew that Nico wasn't known for being the "I love you" type among the female birds of Rio. He was more of the casual relationship type. The fact that he was willing to tie himself to her like that was frankly astonishing.

Nico sighed. "I just . . . I just want to know what's happening." The canary could feel tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "You don't know this, but I have had feelings for you since the day I met you. You had this spark, this . . . this independence, this funniness, this . . . this kindness. Then suddenly . . . it was gone. I don't know what its about. I want to fix it, I really do!" He couldn't stop the tears rolling down his cheeks. "Is it because I didn't tell you I love you?"

It was now Joan's turn to sigh. "No, it wasn't that . . ."

"Than what? You suddenly started acting strange, started pointing out every mistake, every time I was irresponsible, you started becoming suspicious. I don't know what happened! . . . I don't want to lose you . . ."

Joan took a shaky breath. "I . . . I love you too."

Nico couldn't help but smile. From the beginning and even throughout their relationship, he could tell that she was independent, not the one to take commitment lightly. And saying I love you seemed to be her first big acknowledgement of commitment, even above kissing and other intimate acts as such. Something about actually speaking of and acknowledging the implied commitment seemed so much more meaningful.

"And . . ." Joan continued, "I'm ready to tell you what's wrong. You deserve to know." Another shaky breath. "I thought that if I told you, y-you would leave me. After I found out, I wanted you to be responsible and faithful, to fix my own insecurity . . . I-I needed to believe that you could be responsible and that you would never leave me . . . I needed to know that you would always stick with me. I began to magnify every little mistake to catastrophic levels _because_ I was so insecure." She sniffled and wiped away fresh tears. "I know that we have only been together for a little over two months . . . I can't even begin to figure out how to tell you . . ."

Joan let out a shaky laugh. "I'm rambling . . . I'm sorry . . . I-I'm nervous."

Nico again placed his wing on Joan's shoulder; unlike last time, she did not pull away. "Don't worry, no matter what happens, I won't leave you. I love you." Nico, despite the emotional heaviness of the moment, grinned. "You know what . . . it feels pretty nice to say 'I love you.'"

"Really . . .?" Joan smiled hopefully. Finally, with a deep sigh, she began to explain. "The reason I was acting so strangely is . . . well . . . you remember last Tuesday, when we had that wild night at the club?"

"Yes . . ." Nico responded cautiously.

"You remember how we went to your hollow at like three in the morning?"

"Yeah . . ."

"You remember what we _did_ when we got to your hollow?"

Nico couldn't help but both grin and blush at that memory. "Yeah I do. It was the most _romantic_ moment of my life." Suddenly, his eyes went wide. "Wait . . . does the past week have anything to do with what happened that night?"

Avoiding Nico's gaze and turning her head down, Joan slowly nodded. And what she said next made Nico feel weak at the knees and almost made him faint:

"Nico . . . I'm pregnant."

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**So there was my return after a year's hiatus! As with any author, reviews are accepted and loved, but I won't be surprised if this doesn't get many; this chapter/story is pretty small. But reviews would still be greatly appreciated. So review and I hope you enjoyed this!**


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